The pandemic has meant a lot of us have had to give up a lot of celebrations lately. For children, this is much more difficult. If your child has a birthday coming up and you’re concerned about making it as special as you can when you can’t have a normal birthday celebration, then you could try some of these ideas. You can still give your child a memorable day, and make sure they don’t feel too sad about not having a party.
- Have a Zoom party. Make sure your child doesn’t miss out on getting birthday fuss from their friends and the rest of the family. Arrange a Zoom call for people to stop by and sing happy birthday. You could play party games through Zoom too. Send out some party hats for people to wear during the call, and make things feel more like a party.
- Do fancy dress. Make the day feel different from every other day at home by getting the whole family to dress up. Choose a theme, like a favorite superhero, and all dress up. You could buy costumes online, or spend the days before their birthday making costumes if you’re creative. Making costumes together would be fun, and you can use things from around the house for a cheaper option.
- Decorate the house. Choose a theme and decorate the whole house. You could fill the house with balloons, order international flower delivery for exotic flowers, or match the decor to your fancy dress theme.
- Order a bouncy castle. You can hire a small bouncy castle for the garden, and have a private bounce party for just the family. The birthday boy or girl will feel extra special, and you can all have fun, even if you can’t have any guests over to visit. No waiting for your turn on the bouncy castle, and being bounced on by an older child!
- Ask for messages. There’s no reason for child to go without all the birthday attention. Ask your family and their friends to record some short video clips of them saying or singing happy birthday and edit them into one video together, to show how many people wish they could be celebrating with them.
- Hire a video call entertainer. If you had a party planned with a children’s entertainer, there’s no need to miss out. A lot of children’s entertainers have started offering virtual parties and sending messages. They can play games, lead songs, or tell stories through a video call. Whether you want a Disney princess or a magician, there’ll be someone out there to make it a party.
- Have a treasure hunt. Make the day feel special and keep the excitement going longer by holding a treasure hunt. Take their birthday gifts and hide them throughout the house. Give them clues to help them track down their gifts. This spreads out the gift opening a bit and gives them something to do, so they don’t feel as sad about not having a regular birthday party.